© 2002 No Ink Media   Photo Gallery - Page 2 My '55 Chevy circa 1978-81 As chronicled elsewhere on this site, I first saw the Chevy when it was owned by a customer of the auto parts warehouse I worked for. The left and middle photos in the top row were scans from Polaroid photographs taken not long after the owner put it up for sale. All of the photographs were aimed at documenting the car for my dad, whose OK I needed in order to buy it. My plan was to sell my car my parents had bought for me (1971 VW Type III Fastback, you can see the rear of it in background of the middle photo in the top row below, just to the right of the yellow and black Camaro). My father wasn't impressed by the '55. These photos served as my inspiration when I later began working toward buying it. Photographer's note: Many of these shots suffer from poor composition and bad focus. My manual camera wasn't easy to focus correctly. In the Spring of 1978, this unique 1955 caught my fancy. The one-piece fiberglass front end tilted forward, and boy howdy, did this thing scream "race me!" In the middle photo above, the motor wasn't anything fancy, though it did have 1960s Corvette aluminum valve covers. You can see traces of the original Gypsy Red paint on the firewall. The car was an attractive street machine. I think the missing chrome gave it a very clean look. Among the missing trim were the hood & trunk emblems, the V8 under the tail lights, the front fender trim and paint dividers. Until I dug out my photos I didn't remember the previous owner having a special license plate. Actually, it wasn't special -- it was just the "right" number. He said he knew someone in the bureau that got it for him. Nice plate. The tilt front was wobbly. The paint was cracked because of how much it flexed, even though it had been reinforced with conduit and additional fiberglass. It sure was light compared to the sheet metal. Note how the bumper also tilted. It wasn't very functional. When I got the car, the car would regularly backfire through the carb when starting. From the driver's seat looking into the cowl induction scoop, you could see the flames light up the engine compartment when it would backfire. Compare the shot at left to the one above, taken in July 2002. The car doesn't have the drag race look now with the metal front end. It's probably a miracle its lasted this long. RIGHT: This 1978 shot of the interior shows it was a strictly business atmosphere inside.. This is the photo that ran in the Bargain Mart the day my first car was stolen. It is a a 1971 Volkswagen Type III Fastback. It was stolen not long after this photo. Here's the Chevy after I brought it home in October 1979. I haven't done much to it at this point, it's pretty much as I bought it. A photo of the rear-end of the car while it is parked in front of my parent's home. I didn't have a personalized plate for it at this point. These interior photos show minor changes in the car. I added a Craig amp and equalizer under the dash (far left). The tach and gauges were in the car already. A Pontiac shift knob sits atop the Hurst shifter. In these photos above from July 1981, I have installed two new doors and removed the trim on the sides. It hid quite a bit of rust. ABOVE & BELOW: This series of photos show the new metal doghouse installed to replace the fiberglass front end. The bumpers were both removed and sent to Bumpers Inc. in Louisville for rechroming. Below, the doghouse is shown with headlights and parking lights. Without a bumper, it sure changes the look. The lower photos show my work stripping the paint. There were many, many layers of paint.